Page 107 of Bride By Coronation

"I often wake up in the middle of the night. Perhaps I don't require a lot of sleep," he claims.

I pout. "So I'll be left alone in bed all the time?"

Surprise flashes in his eyes. "That would bother you?"

"It depends. Are you a spooner?" I tease.

He arches his eyebrows. "Spooner?"

"Yeah."

He admits, "I don't know what that means."

I sarcastically laugh. "Sure you don't."

He shakes his head. The line on his forehead deepens. He insists, "I don't."

My smile falls. "You honestly don't know what spooning is?"

"No."

"How is that possible?"

He shrugs. "I don't know. But are you going to tell me what it is?"

"It's a form of cuddling," I offer.

His expression hardens. He blinks a few times and stays quiet.

My stomach dives. "You don't like to cuddle?"

He swallows hard.

I hold my fingers a few inches apart, teasing, "Not even a little?"

He opens his mouth and then shuts it. He looks past me, breathing deeply.

My insides quiver. I quietly state, "It's okay." I turn and face the window, trying to hide my disappointment.

He sighs, slides one arm under my head, then curls his other arm around my waist and tugs me into him. He brushes his lips against my ear, asking, "Is this how you like to cuddle?"

Tingles zing down my spine. My butterflies throw a new party in my stomach. I push my ass into his pelvis and sink into him, lacing my fingers through his. I turn my head, smirking. "So you do like to spoon."

He pins his eyebrows together. "This is spooning?"

"Ha, ha. Funny."

Silence fills the air, turning tense.

My chest tightens. I turn onto my back, asking, "You really didn't know what spooning was?"

He hesitates, then pushes a lock of my hair behind my ear and shakes his head. "No."

I cautiously ask, "So you're the type of guy who doesn't like to cuddle?"

He studies me for another moment, then reveals, "I haven't had anyone in my bed since I was eighteen."

I laugh, exclaiming, "I married the virgin king!"

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